Besy Frienimies
by Nobdy'sMelody
Summary: Leslie isn't dead and jess isn't acting like himself. their friendship is falling apart when jess realizes his feelings for her. better than the summary, i hope. R&R.
1. At the Beginning

BEST FRIENIMIES.

::Nobdy'sMelody::

So, I don't own the characters or Bridge to Teribithia.

Leslie's POV

Jess had changed. In the four years since we'd met, he had changed. For the better, and the worst.

He wasn't the shy little boy I'd met in fifth grade. She was bold and daring now, more adventurous. He'd gotten in a few fights, instead of ignoring those awful boys.

I couldn't tell him that, though. That I didn't like who he'd become, I mean. For the most part, we'd gotten closer and we told each other everything.

But, in a way, we'd also drifted apart. He didn't want to go to Teribithia everyday now, because he didn't need our special place to get away from those boys. He had his fists for that now. He didn't like listening to the stories I wrote anymore. He paid more attention to the other girls than he did to me. Hormones, I guess, but, seriously, I am his best friend. Shouldn't he pay some attention to me?

It was like I didn't know him anymore.

And this was proven true one day, our last day in Teribithia together.

"Leslie!" Jess ran after me, to our fort.

I turned around, facing him, my face red, "What?"

"I didn't mean it like that. It's just; the world doesn't revolve around you. I can have other friends."

"You mean girlfriends. You don't seriously think I'd believe that you want friendship from them? Like what we have? Oh, excuse me. What we _had_!" I screamed.

"What? What do you mean 'had'? You're still my best friend. It's just I'm a guy! You're a girl! I need guy time, and if I want to ask out girls, that's none of your business!" he yelled back, from the ground.

"Well, since I'm a girl, I know that girls don't like to play the kind of games you're interested in. You flirt with so many girls and lead them on. You're such a player!" I felt tears roll down my cheeks. This wasn't my Jess. I jumped down to his level and stared him in the face.

"And you really think those boys are your friends? News flash, Jess! They hate you! They've always hated you! You told me so yourself in fifth grade. You said that I was the only one you could trust and the only person you truly cared about!" I continued.

Jess yelled at me, his voice cracking, "I said no such thing, bitc-!"

"Don't you dare call me that word, Jess Aarons! I swear you will regret it if you do!" I cried, tears falling hard. I couldn't take this.

"Why?" he asked. "Afraid of the truth?"

I gasped, and yelled at him, my voice shaking, "You're not Jess anymore!"

With that, I turned and ran, leaving my ex-best friend in the dust.

Jess's POV

I lay in my bed crying. I blamed Leslie. I said she was the one who had changed. But, I knew I was the one who was wrong. I was the one who had changed.

It was all my fault. And I didn't deserve her. I had almost called her a… I didn't even want to think it. It didn't fit her.

"Jess?" May belle sat down on my bed as I buried my face in my pillow.

"Go away, May belle," I muttered, my voice muffled by the pillow.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her voice concerned. Her sad voice reminded me of Leslie's tears and how I'd caused them. That brought on a new round of tears from me.

I lifted my tear-stained face from my pillow. "I hate myself. I want to die."

a/n: Okay, i'm gonna need everyone to reveiw and tell me if this sucks. okay? cuz if i suck, i promise i will stop writing and making people's eyes bleed. swear. tata!


	2. Too Little Too Late

Chapter 2

Leslie's POV

I hated him. I hated him. I couldn't understand what had happened to us. How did we let this happen? Why did this have to happen? Did God hate me so much to make my only and best friend change and hate me?

A knock at my door. "Go away," I muttered, P.T. curling against my body.

The creak of my door shocked me. Usually my parents respected my privacy. "I said go away. I wanna be alo-… Jess."

"I…I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I really am, Les. I'm sorry I changed and I'm sorry I've been a jerk. I guess I just wanted the guys to like me and everyone to stop calling you my girlfriend. I'm sorry," he looked down at the ground.

"Really?" I smiled, walking over to him. He nodded. "Well, I don't accept!" I yelled, pushing my palms against his hard chest.

"What?" he asked as I pushed him out of my doorway.

I sighed, "I don't care if you're sorry. I understand that I'm not your only friend and that you need 'guy time', but I didn't deserve to be treated like that, Jess Aarons," I slammed my door in his face.

I slid down, sitting against my door. I heard him continue from the other side. "Les, I know. You're right, like always. You didn't deserve that and I don't deserve you. I'll always be your friend and I'm sorry. I really and truly am. I love you, Leslie," his voice came from the hallway.

I angrily brushed tears away from my eyes. I knew he did. On some level, somewhere deep inside him, he loved me.

Not the stupid, mushy boyfriend/girlfriend love, but a genuine kind of love. "Even when I was awful to you, you stayed by my side," Jess gulped, mortified. "Les, I know I don't deserve you or your friendship, but I wanna try again. I've screwed everything up, but-"

I opened the door, "Jesse Oliver Aarons, Junior. You really think you can shake the Etch-A-Sketch and make everything better and back to the way it was? You can't. Go away! I never wanna see you again!"

I slammed the door in his face one last time.

Jess's POV

I ran off Leslie's porch, a string of profanities streaming out of my mouth. Why wouldn't she forgive me? I know I was wrong but I admitted it. Shouldn't she forgive me? Couldn't she cut me some slack?

"Jess Aarons!" her father yelled out the door when the last word- 'Damn!'- flew out of my mouth. I turned and my cursing stopped.

"You broke my little girl's heart, you know that?" he asked, stepping out the screen door. "And I never wanna hear those words come out of your mouth on my property again, you hear me?"

"Yes, sir. And I'm sorry for both. But Leslie's pretty stubborn and she won't forgive me," I found it impossible to sallow past my Adam's apple.

"Well, she loves you, you know. I hope you two can be friends again." With that, he turned and walked back into the house.

"So do I, Bill. So do I," I muttered under my breath, running back to my house as the sun began to set over the fields.

Leslie's POV

"Jess was here," my dad told me, knocking on my open door.

"I know. I talked to him," I said, petting P.T.'s fur. I smiled down at him, remembering the day Jess gave him to me.

"Did he apologize?" Bill asked. I walked over to my mirror and brushed my hair, purposely not looking my father in the eye.

"Hon, you can't keep being mad at him. I can see it in your eyes that you forgive him," Bill smiled, turning to leave. "Just let it go."

I sighed and said to myself, "I wish I could."

A/n: Okayyy. Chapter 2 is up. I am very proud of myself. Sorry it's short. Thanks for the reviews, I love them! They keep me going. Tell me if it sucks. Thanks. Kisses. Tata.


	3. Hello

Chapter 3

Jess's POV

Everyday I tried to apologize. And everyday she turned me down.

I tried to change back into who I thought she wanted me to be. I ignored the guys, my "friends" and they soon forgot I existed. I ignored the girls who flirted with me (who I normally flirted with) and they soon turned to other guys.

And, still nothing.

Leslie didn't care. She believed, truly believed, that I would be myself again and, once I had her friendship again and her heart to break, I'd go back to ignoring her.

I know this is corny, but I went to Teribithia and sat in our fortress and cried my eyes out, begging God that he would make her like me again.

God must've hated me, too.

"Leslie!" I chased after her in the hallway two weeks later.

"Leave me alone, Jess Aarons," she called back as she darted her way through the students. I finally caught up with her and grabbed her wrist.

"Leslie!"

"_Get your hands off me!"_ she yelled so loud I thought the windows would break. I dropped her wrist.

"Leslie, please…" I whispered, dropping my eyes to the floor.

"No," she turned on her heel. I grabbed her wrist again. "What?" she growled.

I swallowed, "Leslie, please. Forgive me. You were right. I was wrong. Please. Remember when…when we promised that-"

"I don't wanna hear about anything I said or did, Jesse Oliver Aarons! It doesn't matter anymore," she tried to walked away but I tightened my grip on her skinny wrist.

"Let go of me," Leslie's blue eyes begged like her voice.

I shook my head, "Leslie, don't let it end like this. Our friendship is stronger than that. I've been trying to change for you, but you-"

She cut me off, "You've tried to change? For me? I doubt that. You were the one who said that-"

I pulled her to me and crushed my lips against hers. I felt her hands on my chest, trying to push me away, but I tightened my grip on her, wrapping my arm around her waist. _Please, God, let her realize I mean it._

Leslie's POV

_Oh, God, he's kissing me!_ I thought when I felt Jess's lips smash against mine. I tried to push him away, but he grabbed my waist and held me closer. I didn't know what to do. I mean, I'd never actually kissed a boy.

And here was Jess Aarons, stealing my first kiss. The jerk.

When he finally let me go, I gasped. He was smiling victoriously, as if he'd done something incredible. I frowned and slapped him.

"Leslie?" he held his cheek. I didn't care, though. I hoped it hurt. If he thought doing _that_ would help our friendship mend itself, he was dead wrong.

What? Did he think the kiss was a band-aid? Our friendship was crying out for surgery and he _steals my first kiss_. When I say it like that it sounds pretty bad, huh?

"Stay away from me, Jess," I muttered.

"So that's it, Leslie? Friendship over?" he threw his arms out wide.

I turned back to him and shook my head, "No. You already did that."


	4. Fearless

_Sorry for the wait! So everyone knows I haven't, Y'know, fallen off the face of the earth or anything, I've decided to update this story._

_And I don't own anything except the thoughts (and voices) inside my head._

**Best Frienimies**

**Chapter 4!**

Jess POV

I threw my sketchbook under my pillow as May Belle walked into our room. (Yes, I know it's sad. Fifteen and I share a room with my little sisters. *sigh*)

If she saw what was in there, I'd never live it down.

_Leslie, Leslie, Leslie…_

She filled my sketchbook, my heart, and my thoughts. Every since I'd kissed her, I couldn't get her out of my head.

How her lips had felt against mine…

How I'd felt the heat from her body soak into me when I pulled her against me…

How her blue eyes held so much emotion…

How she _used to_ smile at me…

_Leslie, Leslie, Leslie…_

I couldn't deny it any longer:

I was in love with the blonde angel that hated me so much.

I was in love with Leslie Burke, my ex-best friend.

"Jess?" May Belle hovered in the doorway.

I scowled deeply, glaring at her, "What?"

"Leslie just ran out of her house crying…I saw her run towards the woods."

_Teribtihia._

I jumped up and raced out the door, zipping my sweatshirt as I ran across the golden field, towards the deep green woods, the sun already painting the sky a deep red as if fell down the horizon.

I swung across on the rope. "Leslie!" I yelled, following the blur of blonde I saw running towards our fortress. "Leslie!"

I reached the run down tree house.

Overgrown with vines, the wood was dark and stained. Our home-made paintings that adorned the walls were chipped and peeling off the wood, our initials long lost and forgotten. The tin cans had rusted.

A new cardboard box sat in a corner. It had a warm, comfy-looking blanket, a bag of Oreos, and a book (which I reconognized to be _Romeo and Juliet_).

Leslie was curled up against the wall, her knees to her chest. My heart softened and tears came to my eyes as I realized her shoulders were shaking with sobs, her face hidden from view.

"Les…" I plopped down beside her, pulling her against my chest. I pulled my fingers through her long, silky blonde hair. When had I last done this? When had I last felt her fingers grab my shirt in a fist, clutching me? When had I last felt the soft stands of her hair fall through my fingers?

"Les, what's wrong?" I rubbed her back, resting my cheek in her hair. She smelled of honeysuckles and strawberries.

"M-m-my daaaad!" she cried, her voice muffled as she closed her eyes against my chest. "He's d-d-dead!"

I gasped in shock. _Bill? Dead?_ "Oh, Leslie," I cooed. "I'm so sorry."

She looked up at me with teary eyes: "I told him I hated him! The last thing I ever said to my dad was that I hated him!"

I wiped away her tears with my thumb, "Why?"

Stupid question, I know. But I was a fifteen year old boy in shock. What else could I ask?

"He...he was giving me a hard time about…you and I said I hated him," she seemed to have calmed down quite a bit, "and he went for a drive…and got in an accident. And it's my fault!"

"Leslie Burke, it is not your fault! Your father died in an _accident!_ It had nothing to do with you!" I grabbed her shoulders and shook her.

Her hands clutched my shoulders and she pulled herself into my lap, burying her face in my neck, "I feel so awful, Jess. My head hurts."

I rubbed her back in soothing circles. "I know, Leslie."

The wind blew. It howled through the cracks in the walls and Leslie shivered in my arms. I took my sweatshirt off and zipped her into it, smiling as I admired how she looked in my clothes. I took the blanket from the cardboard box and wrapped it around her, then found older ones and encircled us both in them.

She yawned and her breathing was evening out. She placed a gentle kiss to my neck, the place her lips were closest to, and whispered, "I love you, Jess."

I blushed deeply. My face was probably hotter than the surface of the sun. I kissed her forehead as she fell asleep, "I love you, too, Leslie."

I yawned as I felt sleep take over me. The stars sparkled above as I clutched Leslie closer and drifted off, finally at peace.


End file.
